Brand awareness in the home improvement market; a European overview

Manufacturers of building products put much effort in the branding of their products each year, but how effective is this? USP Marketing Consultancy measured the aided brand awareness in the European home improvement market among 400 consumers in eleven countries. The European Home Improvement Monitor consists of twenty product categories. This article focuses on the best known brands in seven product categories by European consumers.

Grohe and Villeroy & Boch are two of the best known brands for bathroom products in Europe. These brands are mentioned in the top-5 of brands in eight European countries. More than 55% of the European consumers know Grohe in the researched European countries, except for Denmark, France and Spain where this percentage is lower. The brand awareness of Villeroy & Boch differs per country, this varies between 30% and 70%.

Hansgrohe and Geberit are mentioned in four European countries. Hansgrohe has a brand awareness among European consumers between 30% and 50%. For Geberit the brand awareness is between 30% and 65% in the countries where Geberit is mentioned in the top-5.

Paint

Many brands from AkzoNobel and PPG are mentioned in this category. These manufacturers have a broad brand portfolio and makes use of different brand names in each country. Regarding the specific brands, Dulux is mentioned in four countries. This is especially the case in Poland and UK, where there is a high brand awareness (more than 80%). Private labels from retailers like Obi and Gamma are also mentioned in the category ‘Paint’.

Paint supplies

3M is mentioned in all researched countries. In every country 3M is mentioned in the top 5 with at least 30% aided awareness. Scotch is mentioned in ten countries and has an aided brand awareness of 69% in Italy. Tesa is mentioned in almost all countries and is the best known brand in Austria and Germany with 60% aided brand awareness.

Roof daylight solutions

Velux is clearly the best known brand in the category of roof daylight solutions, mentioned in all countries as the best known brand. Roto is mentioned in eight countries, but the highest brand awareness of Roto is 12% in Germany. Roofland is mentioned in six European countries, The aided brand awareness of Roofland is the highest in the UK (11%).

Safety

Yale mentioned in eight countries and has the highest aided brand awareness in the UK (71%). In the other countries this is about 40%. Abus is mentioned in six countries and has the highest aided brand awareness in Germany (50%). In the rest of the countries, this share is lower.

Sealants & adhesives

Pattex is mentioned in seven countries and has a relatively high aided brand awareness. In some countries Pattex is the best known brand. In other countries Pattex is not the best known brand but still has an aided brand awareness of at least 60%. UHU is mentioned in four countries and has a high brand awareness of more than 70% in Austria and Germany. Bostik is mentioned in four countries and has a high brand awareness of around 70% in Italy and the UK.

Tools

Bosch and Black & Decker have the highest aided brand awareness in the tools market. Bosch is mentioned in all researched countries. In most of the countries, 80% of the consumers know Bosch. Black & Decker is also mentioned in eleven countries, but less consumers know this brand. Kärcher is mentioned in ten countries. In most of the countries, the brand awareness is between 60% and 70%. Except for the Netherlands and Spain where this share is lower.

Conclusion

All in all, different brands are mentioned in all categories, but it is clear that the branding efforts pay off for manufacturers in the home improvement market. The effectiveness of these efforts depends on the country and the market the manufacturer is active in. In some of the categories where USP Marketing Consultancy has measured the aided brand awareness, there are one or two best known brands and in other categories this market seems to be more divided. The larger manufacturers could use many brand names or they could use one umbrella brand. That is one of the considerations for European manufacturers, when developing a strategy.